49ers begin to fall in Week 14 power rankings

It's 208 games down, and 48 to go in the NFL's regular season, and we've only got four teams having punched their ticket to the playoffs with three weeks remaining (Green Bay, San Francisco, New Orleans and Houston).

Most of the remaining drama will be in the AFC, starting with Sunday's fascinating New England at Denver game highlighting the Week 15 schedule. What could be better than Tom Brady and Tim Tebow sharing the same stage, putting their very different styles to the test?

New England, Baltimore, Houston and Pittsburgh are all 10-3, and in a dogfight for the top three seeds in the AFC playoffs, with the Ravens and Steelers facing the possibility of winding up anywhere from No. 1 to No. 5. The comeback Broncos are in great shape in the AFC West, and the Jets have rallied themselves and look like they're revving up for yet another wild-card run.

While the perfect season continues in Green Bay, fairly quietly we might add, the 49ers and Saints now have a nice little battle brewing for the No. 2 seed in the NFC. Atlanta and Detroit have wild-card entry written all over them, and the NFC East is a three-team race so ugly it's almost beautiful.

Now on to this week's rankings...

Week 14 NFL Power Rankings